This invention is directed toward beds for pickup trucks and particularly toward a rear door attachable to the existing tailgate that converts a six foot bed into an eight foot bed.
Pickup trucks have become very popular even as a second vehicle for an owner that does not depend on its use as a part of his business. For this type of owner, a pickup truck having a six foot bed is very attractive in terms of cost, convenience in city driving and for meeting most of his xe2x80x9clight weight dutiesxe2x80x9d. It usually happens with these owners that they must carry items that are longer than six feet such as wall panels or plywood sheets that are eight feet long. On these occasions, the owner must xe2x80x9cmake doxe2x80x9d by lowering the truck tailgate to a horizontal position, leaving the tail end of the bed open. He must then take extra precautions to tie down his cargo including the panels and any other items that his truck is transporting since, in the worst scenario, his cargo may fall out of the back of the truck and in a lesser happening he is subject to being stopped by the police for violating. ordinances against such practice of carrying cargo unsafely.
Manufacturers have attempted to increase cargo capacity in utility vehicles by incorporating sliding platforms or rack. The platforms may be mounted within the truck bed and include a table with rollers to facilitate selective extension of the platform. Such additions have resulted in reduction of cargo space in terms of the rails and rollers that are folded into the truck when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,654 to Eilers discloses a selectively extendable tailgate section including a sidewall and floor section that telescopes into the fixed sides and floor of the cargo bed. The addition of this invention is expensive and an overkill solution to meet a requirement to simply convert a six foot bed to an eight foot bed to facilitate carrying a load such as eight foot panels on a bed that was originally a six foot bed.
It is an object of this invention to extend the useable length of a pickup truck having a six foot bed to an eight foot bed. It is a further object that extension of the bed may be conveniently accomplished on existing pickup trucks with limited expense. It is another object that, when the extension is not required, that that the extension occupy limited space and not present an unattractive appearance.
This invention is directed toward a door or panel that has the approximate height and width of the tailgate and is hingably attached to a pair of angles, each one angle fastened to a side edge of the tailgate opposite the other angle fastened to the other side edge of the tailgate such that the added door has an edge that swings on an axis along the top edge of the existing tailgate. When the existing tailgate is rotated so that it is an extension of the truck bed supported by a chain or brace as is typical with pickup trucks, then the added door rotates into a vertical position and retained by a pair of unfolded braces, each brace having one end secured to the door and the other end secured to the angle.